New Light on the British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott’s Discovery Expedition) 1901-1904

View/Open

Author

Date

Permanent Link

Thesis Discipline

Science

Degree Grantor

University of Canterbury

Degree Level

Postgraduate Certificate

Degree Name

Postgraduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies

This work analyses some elements of Scott’s Discovery expedition and is
specifically informed by materials available in the Canterbury district of New
Zealand. It draws on fresh resources now accessible in the public domain in
the antipodes, and from a private collection held by the family of physicist,
Louis Bernacchi.
A central source for this work is the original journal of Louis Bernacchi, (for
most of 1902) that resides in the manuscripts collection of the Canterbury
Museum, Christchurch. (Bernacchi 1902)
Letters and documents in the possession of Bernacchi’s granddaughter, a
resident of Lincoln, also in the Canterbury district, further inform this research.
This collection has only recently been acquired and my preliminary analysis
(over two days in early 2008) is the first made by a polar historian. The
collection may have gone unread for almost a century. It is extensive and has
yet to be fully catalogued and annotated. Section 1 of this paper provides a
brief history of Bernacchi in order to set the context and to rectify some oftenrepeated
biographical errors.
There are some letters written from the ice by Louis to his close brother
Roderick that support my reasoning. Bernacchi’s correspondence with
messmates upon the return of the Discovery inform my opinions about the
measure of success of the expedition and provide clues regarding expedition
management. There is also a significant body of (mostly brief)
correspondence with central figures in British polar circles of the early
twentieth century. These sources expand our knowledge of character and
personality of expedition members of the Discovery.
Baden Norris (Emeritus Curator of Antarctic History at the Canterbury
Museum) has made the diary of Petty Officer James Duncan, shipwright and
Carpenter’s Mate available to me. It contains some personal comments and
provides a different (lower deck) view of routine life on the ship, especially
during the winter months. This is only otherwise available in Dundee Museum
(to the best of my knowledge) so I have mined this source of commentary
from the mess deck of the Discovery